Is surgery beyond the reach of the world’s poor? And how do we reconcile the issues involved with increasing access to surgery with the widespread need for water and sanitation? A case example inspired by Dr. Robert Riviello, trauma and acute care general surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave us some big […] Continue Reading
Is surgery beyond the reach of the world’s poor? And how do we reconcile the issues involved with increasing access to surgery with the widespread need for water and sanitation? A case example inspired by Dr. Robert Riviello, trauma and acute care general surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave us some big questions to […] Continue Reading
So, on Halloween 2011, the seven billionth person in the world was born–China or India the most likely birthplace. In a New York Times column this summer, Thomas Friedman laid out his thoughts on the cost us all of living with so many billions of other people: “The Earth is Full”. It makes sobering reading. A recent news story […] Continue Reading
Delivering care in one the world’s poorest countries Student observations on Village Health Works’ participatory care model In late 2010, a small team of MIT students took a look at the organization from the outside and, as a course assignment, prepared an executive summary aimed at its board of directors. This article presents their overview […] Continue Reading
Health-business-in-a-bag Student observations on LivingGoods’ model and future strategies by Vishal Gupta, Jenny Hu, Kevin Kung, and Awilda Mendez In late 2010, a small team of MIT students took a look at the organization from the outside and, as a course assignment, prepared an executive summary aimed at its board of directors. This article presents […] Continue Reading
Establishing pharmacies in low-income communities Student observations on Mi Famacita Nacional’s dual-mission, franchising model In late 2010, a small team of MIT students took a look at the organization from the outside and, as a course assignment, prepared an executive summary aimed at its board of directors. This article presents their overview and assessment of […] Continue Reading
A brand-new special issue of BMC International Health and Human Rights features a special collection on Health innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. The papers present examples from Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda of how science and technology innovations are connected to entrepreneurship and institutions in specific examples. The very first article takes […] Continue Reading
Can we make process, management, and systems a bit less dreary and a bit more glam? So, we’re at MIT, where technology is in the air, and I have my own personal obsessions with technology–witness my (often flawed) forays into twitter, delicious, and too many mobile phones, along with plenty of other tech tools. Source: http://www.ghtcoalition.org/diagnostics.php […] Continue Reading
Can franchises deliver better and more health care cost-effectively in places where current system fall short, and along the way equip a cadre of microentrepeneurs to spur economic development? We looked at the issues again this year: first, to explore what franchising entails, next, to study one chain of franchise clinic-pharmacies operating in Kenya and Rwanda, […] Continue Reading
Several years ago, thanks to an innovative class pioneered by my MIT Sloan colleague Simon Johnson, MIT students had a chance to partner with finalists in the World Bank Development Marketplace business plan competition. Student teams worked directly with promising entrepreneurs, mostly from the developing world, to address a development challenge posed by the World Bank […] Continue Reading
We looked at Riders for Health last year and were taken with their undeniable coolness as well as the focus and completeness of their operational model. Check out this discussion and related links. Since then, a new study and articles have come out: here’s Fueling Growth by Sonali Rammohan in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2010: Riders for […] Continue Reading
